


Typical Tropical

by dirkharley



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-25 14:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2625860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirkharley/pseuds/dirkharley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When his flight over the Pacific Ocean ends in engine failure, Bro Strider gets stranded on an island off the map. It's completely deserted save for a pair of unlikely occupants: an excitable jungle girl and her teleporting pet dog. On the one hand, he should get back home to his brother and his life. But on the other hand, he could grow to like it here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Typical Tropical

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be a drabble for a meme on tumblr but i am apparently incapable of understanding the meaning of the word. whatever, rarepairs need more content, so here we go
> 
> (warnings for jade not understanding personal space, and also, a plane going down in the ocean?? how do you even warn about that. uh. it's mostly just island shenanigans anyway. also: no sburb, and kids are aged up to be adults. yep ok that's all ENJOY)

The first thing you hear when you wake up is the faraway crash of water on a cliffside, a few rustling leaves, and some birds and bugs chirping in the distance. You venture a guess that it's some commercial on TV trying to convince you to go on a tropical vacation for the low, low price of way too much fucking money, airfare not included.

Then you remember the plane. The one you were actually on. Complete with its sudden engine troubles, a slightly panicked voice over the intercom system, oxygen masks descending from the roof, passengers frantically scrambling for the flotation devices under their seats -

Your eyes snap open and you immediately regret the action, the sun reflecting bright off of white sand and into your bare retinas. You close them just as fast, and then groan to yourself. Why the fuck aren't you wearing any shades.

You don't know how long it is that you lay there, but you hope it's enough time that the sun has set behind the ridiculously tall trees that stand nearby. You doze off for a while, arm over your eyes, and when you wake up again, you wonder how you got here - wherever it is you are.

Last thing you remember is the plane going in for an emergency landing. Are you dead? Are you dreaming? Who knows.

You squint your eyes open again and are relieved to find that this time, you're in a relatively large patch of shade. Sitting up, you do your best to dust off, and failing that, you get up and try making your legs work properly after hours of sinking into soft sand.

It figures that you'd end up on a deserted fucking island the first time you deign to leave the continental U.S.

You decide to follow the shoreline in the hopes of finding your bearings, but you don't make it five steps towards the nearest tree before a loud rustling sound starts to approach. A second later, there's a large white quadruped bounding through the trees towards you and you dive to your left to avoid getting mauled by it.

When you turn to assess the threat, ready to sprint on a moment's notice, you hear the beast bark. It's sitting in a patch of sun, tail wagging, tongue lolling, and its fur glows like the full moon, but there's no mistaking that you just about ran away from nothing more than a very large dog. You relax.

The dog's ears perk up, and not long after, you hear a voice become steadily louder, shouting the same thing over and again.

"Bec!"

Footsteps come from the brush behind you. You turn.

"Bec? Are you over here?"

The dog barks again.

"Becquerel! You silly boy, I've looked all over for you. Why can't you just come when I - "

An arm brushes away the last of the branches between the forest and beach, and a girl emerges from behind them, a few yards down the shoreline from where you stand. She sees you almost immediately, and stops in her tracks.

Her head turns to look at the dog (who you think it's safe to assume is named Bec), and she addresses him.

"Is this what you wanted me to find?"

Bec tilts his head down slightly, like he's nodding, and the girl practically jumps into the air, running toward him with a yell.

"Oh my god!!! You are such a good boy, Bec, yes you are!! You always know just where to lead me!"

Bec nudges her leg with his snout, licking the hem of her skirt.

"You'll get your lunch later, you know it's not time yet!" She reaches a hand out to scratch behind his ears, but when she stops, he becomes surrounded by a bright crackle of green light, disappearing not a second later.

Into thin air.

You really can't help but ask the obvious.

"What the fuck is going on?"

The girl tilts her head to look at you again, the shine on her round glasses obscuring her eyes.

"Oh! That's just Bec. He does that."

She grins and quickly walks in your direction, stopping just a few inches away. She's almost as tall as you are, and her dark hair is tangled in so many snarls that some of the frizzier ends are touching you.

From this distance, you can see that her eyes are the same bright, unsettling green that engulfed her dog moments ago.

"I'm Jade!" She says brightly. Her arms bring you into a hug, reaching around your torso and biceps and linking her hands at your back. You probably should have thought to get yourself more space as soon as she started towards you, because now you're pretty sure you won't be able to wriggle out of her iron grip.

"It's so nice to see another person here! It's just been me and Bec for a long time. But that doesn't really matter right now I guess! Who are you, anyway?"

She's speaking less than an inch from your cheek, with the same volume she used from feet away. You flinch despite yourself and try to shoulder her away. It doesn't work.

"Name's Dirk," you manage, looking anywhere but at her once you realize - again - that you have no idea where your shades are.

"Well then, hi Dirk! It's great to meet you!" You notice her toothy grin in your peripherals and then she's planted a kiss on each of your cheeks. You stiffen, but she lets go of you after that, and you use the opportunity to take a step back.

"I'd say the same about you, but I'm a little too preoccupied with this whole being stranded on an island thing."

Her face falls slightly when you say that, and you feel kind of bad, but at the same time your feelings about being stuck here - for however long it may be - are perfectly valid, so you don't budge.

"You're stranded?" She asks, confusion in her voice.

"I don't know what else you'd call passing out on a crashing plane and waking up on a tropical island."

"Well, don't worry about that!" She bounces back. "It's not like this is deserted or anything. It might take a little work, but if you want to leave I'm sure we can make it happen!"

"Yeah," you say, "that would be good."

Jade leans forward and takes you by the arm, starting to walk back the way she came. She drags you with such unexpected force that you actually stumble the first few steps and almost run into her. Your sense of balance can get with the program any time now.

Walking through the forest is mostly soundless aside from the crunching beneath your feet and occasional skittering sounds above. You glance back towards the beach, but it's impossible to make out past all the vines and branches, which exist in every direction.

"So what do you think of the island so far?"

Her words catch you off guard, and you narrowly dodge a low-hanging section of trunk in your attempt to walk and talk simultaneously.

"It's. Uh. Nice? Haven't seen much of it aside from this," you gesture, sweeping your arms in a wide arc in front of you, "and that sandy shit back there."

"Oh, were you on the beach that whole time?" She responds, hopping over a small stream of water that directly cuts across your path.

"Uh huh. Don't know how long that 'whole time' was, though."

"More than a few hours, judging by the last time a plane flew over," she muses, a hand tapping at her chin. "But I haven't been keeping track really! It'll probably be good for you to get inside, though. That much sun can do strange things to a person!"

"Yeah, no kidding," you say under your breath, still sort of wondering if that disappearing dog trick wasn't just an illusion.

You come upon a clear area, in which there's a craggy rock with a white, towering structure built on it. A ramp winds along its steep sides, leading to the building's entrance.

"This is my house!" Jade exclaims, stopping at the foot of the ramp. "It usually takes about half an hour to climb up there, but you seem pretty beat, so I'll just get Bec to grab us!"

You groan at the thought of encountering her weird dog again.

She whistles, not particularly loudly, but he shows up instantly. Your only indication of his appearance is a faint crackling sound. The air around you sparks with the stuff, so you turn to look at him, but the next thing you know, you're inside a tall, narrow room with white walls. There are stairs going both up and down, and a circular structure sitting in the middle of it all.

"Did he just - "

"Yep! He's a good dog, he does me lots of favours! Like teleporting me to my room when I fall asleep outside, or leading me to meet mysterious strangers on the beach!" She winks at you and your mouth hangs open. You really have no idea how to respond to her, in general, but especially now.

Her hand goes back to tugging on your arm, and she manoeuvres you around the circular structure, bringing you to the upwards-leading staircase.

"Speaking of my room, it's up there! But you should take a seat for now. I can bring you some water if you want, or something to eat?"

You take Jade's advice and settle down onto one of the steps, but you shake your head. "I'm fine, thanks. Mostly just looking for a way out of here. No offense to your sweet digs, of course."

She beams at you. "None taken! I know you're eager to get home, and I want to help with that however I can."

You nod, leaning back across a few of the steps. She sits herself on the floor across from you and pulls out her modus - Pictionary, if you recognize it correctly - and starts drawing a box decorated in squiddles. 

"Nice taste in children's television," you remark. Her eyes widen.

"You like them? Oh man, this is from when I was a pretty young kid, but I've always really loved stuff like that! It's so cute," she gushes, then adding, "and pretty complex, if you think about it. I'm kind of sad that we never got the ending we were promised."

She keeps sketching, and you realize she talks like she grew up with the series. The thought crosses your mind that she might not be as young as she looks.

"How old are you, anyway, to be living here alone?"

She finishes her drawing and out pops a bright red lunchbox, which she proceeds to open. A holographic keyboard pops out, connecting to a 3D rendering of a computer screen, and you have to say, you're impressed.

"I just turned twenty a few months ago," she replies, getting busy typing away at her station. "But it's been just Bec and I here for most of my life! I haven't actually seen another person since grandpa died."

Your eyebrows raise when she says that. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be! I miss him, but I'm still happy here. And I knew I would get to meet someone new eventually. Here you are, after all!"

You smile at that. Jade sure is some kind of optimist. She refocuses her gaze at the screen, and you both go silent again.

You wonder what it is she's doing on that computer of hers. The image is mirrored on your side of it, and the holographic display distorts it enough that you can't follow along with her actions. You spot a few error messages here and there, but nothing conclusive.

After probably ten or fifteen minutes, she shuts the lunchbox with a sigh. You look at her, hoping for an explanation.

"I'm sorry, Dirk!" Jade says, exasperated. "I've tried everything I could, but it looks like my network is down right now. This doesn't usually happen unless there's a pretty bad storm, but it's possible there's a local issue with the connection."

You shrug. "I'm surprised you even have internet out here."

"Anyway," she continues, springing back onto her feet, "I want to take a look at it before I say for sure, but worst case scenario, you might be stuck here a little longer than you hoped!"

She offers you a hand and you stand as well, stuffing your hands in your pockets when she lets go.

"If you want, I know a thing or two about how to deal with electronics being glitchy little shits."

"Sure! I could always use a second - or third - set of eyes! The main router and generator are downstairs, follow me."

Jade turns away from you and steps directly onto the circle in front of her, vanishing into an electric field of nothing in the same way Bec kept doing. You stare for a moment at the place where she had just been standing and consider going back on your offer by staying right where you are, but at this point, it seems best to just roll with the weirdly science fiction-esque punches.

You step forward onto what you assume is a transporter, and there's hardly any sensation to it, aside from momentary disorientation. When you get to the other side, you see Jade disappear onto another one of the patterned circles. You follow behind her, hoping that at some point you can ask to use the stairs like a normal person.

In the last room you arrive in, you see a tangle of wires and cords running across most of the room, and some dangerous looking sparks flying between two very large, important-looking machines. They don't look like anything you've seen before. She beckons you towards her.

"Like I said," she starts, noticing your bewildered expression, "this might take a while."

You nod, and the two of you get to work.

**Author's Note:**

> so i may or may not continue this???
> 
> i say "may" because obviously, it's hella open ended and like. nothing has actually happened yet. but "may not" refers to the fact that i have about 4 other unfinished things stewing in my drafts, and i generally have no motivation. so. we'll see how this goes!
> 
> (if you wanna bug me about updating this, hit me up on [tumblr](http://brojade.co.vu))


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